Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Across town a starving teenage boy prostitutes himself in exchange for a meal.

Beneath a cluster of trees a 17 year old girl, strung out on drugs, will wake up tomorrow with frost on her clothes and her face in the dirt.

In an abandoned building a group of young people huddle together to escape hypothermia, using a toaster as their only source of heat.

Today, in the United States, 13 homeless young people will die, remembered only by the statistic that outlives them.

These situations are not fictional, they are real. In cities all over the U.S. homeless teenagers sleep beneath over passes, congregate in drainage ditches, or make their home in a car. These are the invisible people, loved by Jesus Christ, that Outreach, Inc. of Indianapolis, IN embraces every day.

Established in 1996 Outreach, Inc. is a non-profit Christian ministry in Indianapolis, IN. Their mission is to reach out to homeless and at-risk young adults with the compassion of Jesus Christ. Outreach accomplishes this by providing street outreach, a youth drop-in center, holistic social services, emergency/referral services and case management; operated in an environment of God's love. They are dedicated to introducing the youth to a relationship with Jesus Christ and helping them to mature in that relationship. Outreach comes along side the church in helping it understand and fulfill the “Great Commission” on a local level by training, equipping and supporting the body of Christ and community to minister to this population, empowering the youth to exit the street life.

Eric Howard is the founder of Outreach. He and his staff of 6 are burdened for the survival of street kids. "Every community has homeless teens," Howard relates, "It just a matter of connecting with them." And connecting with these teens is exactly what he and his staff have done.

Outreach staff and volunteers are on the streets 2-3 days a week, week after week, searching for youth ages 17-24. They meet kids and build a relationships with them based on trust. Their goal is to move them toward leaving the street life and culture.

When most of us think of homelessness we think of adults. Yet, according to Howard, it's not uncommon for teenagers to become homeless for numerous reasons: the death of their only parent, running away to escape physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, addiction, mental illness, and abandonment to name a few. But the danger doesn't end when these young people leave home. Life on the streets is about survival at any cost. Howard said, "These kids don't make long term plans. Their greatest hope is to live to see the next day, to survive despite the odds. Every day they could face rape, abduction, addiction, murder, hypothermia, starvation or gang activity. And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

According to the statistics Howard is right.

1/3 of homeless teens report having witnessed a stabbing, rape, shooting, or murder.32% of homeless teenagers have attempted suicide.41% of females report being pregnant to shelters.85% of homeless youth report substance use disorders.

In light of these statistics it isn't surprising that Outreach clients are often bitter and disillusioned. Because of their condition - homeless, jobless, turned away, overlooked, and terrified - trust does not come easily. Yet through the staff and volunteers of Outreach these kids and their needs are not overlooked. A help line is available to them 24 hours a day. The drop-in facility offers washer/dryer facilities, hot showers, warm clothing, food, and most importantly, a sense of belonging.

Outreach journeys with homeless and runaway kids through offering mentoring, GED training, job assistance, permanent housing, and other services. The journey is about finding hope and sharing the love of Christ. "We stake our reputation on these kids every day," Howard emphasized. "They don't want to be dirty, lost, dealing or trading sex for a place to sleep or food to eat. But until they're shown a way out this is the only way they know. We're here shining the light of Christ and offering a home in Him."

"In our society we associate 'a home' with a physical address. But what we forget is that on this earth, none of us is really at home. And we never will be home until we are found in Christ. Yes we meet physical needs but if that were all we did it wouldn't matter. We represent Jesus through being available day and night. We do it through offering acceptance, not judgement. Through seeing past the circumstance to the real person created by Christ."

Outreach is a donor supported ministry that would not exist without individuals like you and me banding together to championing its cause: providing help, hope, and a reason to live to homeless and at risk youth. In order to reach more kids and provide quality services they need our help.And what they're asking is radically easy to provide.

Today you can help Outreach, Inc. for $10 a month for 24 months. Let that sink in while you consider this: Would you be willing to sacrifice 2 cups of overpriced coffee a month to give Jesus something to eat? Could you let go of 2 value meals a month if it meant Jesus didn't have to wake up with frost on his clothes? When you sacrifice for the sake of an at risk youth, helping Jesus is exactly what you're doing.

To middle-class Americans $10 can run through our fingers like sand, forgotten before it even slips away. Let's collect those lost dollars for the sake of finding a lost child of Christ. Follow this link to the Outreach website and find out how you can help. Because of what I've learned in writing this I'm putting $20 a month toward the cause. I'm giving up NetFlix and not looking back.

Consider. Pray. Sacrifice. All for the sake of Christ. Imagine how beautiful he looks on the face of a homeless teenager, one of the least of these.

If you have questions or desire to establish a homeless ministry in your area contact Eric Howard at: info@outreachindiana.org

Today, how will you make the world a better place for some of the least of these? Leave your comment, or encouragement for Outreach's ministry, here.

Crazy Love is convicting me to sacrifice creature comforts for Biblical causes. Here is an opportunity God is giving me. That said, I'm walking away from the weekly lunch out I have, and giving my money to this ministry.

Stacy, thank you so much for letting us know about this ministry. Homelessness is one of my passions and I love working for God in this area. But teens are a group we can NEVER reach because they are so broken and hostile (can you blame them?) and we can hardly even approach them. This is a way I can...

Let me shout a big THANK YOU for posting this, Stacy. Before I started working at a youth center in Terre Haute, Indiana, I had no idea about the sheer numbers of homeless children and teens that existed in my area. Now my church volunteers at the center. But there are still many Christians and churches that are unaware of this tragedy.

If you ever get to know these kids personally, let me tell you...they're just...kids. Beautiful, smart kids that God loves and it's a huge uphill battle to turn their life around (It's tough to get through to them, but there's also never enough money, time, resources, or people to help like they need to be helped), but it's so worth giving anything you can give.

I could go on and on...thanks again. I keep wanting to do some posts on stories of kids I know...but it's hard to do it in a way that they remain anonymous...I'm going to try to figure that out...

Thanks, Stacy. One of the problems that I never thought about before we got involved with a homeless ministry is the problems that arise (besides the obvious) from not having a physical address. Many would qualify for assistance, could get jobs, etc. if they had an address to put on an application.

So many things have been brought to light. So many preconceived notions blown out of the water. Everyone has a story and I've thought to myself on more than one occassion, "there, but by the Grace of God, goes me."